You see, Obama blew his chance when he handed the keys to the bill to congress. It is in the writing of the bill where the rubber meets the road and Obama ceded that, therefore ceded all the power he was going to have.

At this point (read the news) he is being REACTIVE, not Proactive. When you are being reactive after the core of the bills have already been written then you have pretty much lost the battle already.

So for now he is out there pretty much trying to save face. But then maybe that was his plan all along. maybe he never wanted the bill most of us wnated and knew by letting both sides of the aisle fight in out in congress we would never get what it is we want.

Remember it was Obama during the primaries who was bashing Clinton for wanting health care for all. It was he who ran the Harry and Louise ads. But of course that was 'not a nickels worth of difference', but I digress.

Harry and Louise was a Big Tell - and here we are.

Bush, of all presidents, could say that he got Medicare prescription relief for seniors--and did so in a bad bill that most people realize was way too costly, too confusing in its implementation, and serves mainly as a boon to Big Pharma, the same folks Obama has been playing footsie with in the drafting of this bill.

No one is erecting statues for Bush. Granted, his screwups in other massive affairs would have overshadowed even a good Medicare prescription bill, but I think that people also know when a bill is not what it could have been, when its benefits are modest to the citizens in exchange for larger benefits for the campaign donors.

For Obama to truly benefit politically, this bill has to provide tangible relief to all of us--affordable and reliable insurance and health care. That means being able to afford copays on prescriptions. That means no longer having to work past your ability to do so merely so that you can have health insurance, which you would not be able to purchase on your own. That means being able to be insured even when you bust your butt working two minimum-wage jobs to support yourself and your children.

And so on.

The president should stay on the sidelines and keep Congress invested in an outcome until the time for serious horse-trading arrives. At that point, Obama will probably have to mollify centrists concerned about the cost of a plan, while preventing liberal Democrats from peeling off from what they view as a watered-down compromise.

Today, in fact, was one of the worst days, with nearly every thread ruined by the same old 2-3 noxious commenters calling others 'coward', 'hypocrite', 'troll', and continually picking fights with those they don't like. It is just so juvenile and tiresome to others, and I guess I just wish these commenters would finally be warned and made to stop it once and for all.